Advice sought on my first Bongo

Anything non-technical about the Mazda Bongo Friendee van

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Reptile Smile
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Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by Reptile Smile » Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:59 am

Hi all,

First post here. Sorry that it’s a plea for help!

I’m looking for a Bongo with LPG (or cheap enough and in good enough condition to convert with money in the kitty). Obviously, the LPG requirement is a bit of a limiting factor, though if I do the conversion myself, there is more choice (though I’d rather, if possible, buy one that’s already converted).

I’ve looked at one that I liked, but my challenge is I’ve only seen one and that puts me in a bit of a vulnerable position – I don’t want to race into it and buy the first one I’ve seen, though I don’t know whether this one will hang around (though only have the seller’s word to go on, though he struck me as utterly trustworthy – apparently the dealer who sold him it has offered him £7000 to buy it back, and if he doesn’t sell it soon, he will accept that offer).

The condition struck me as ok – like, pretty good. It’s a 97 with approx. 110 000 miles on the clock. It’s a side conversion (though without the full height wardrobe you sometimes see, but the conversion seems generally good, with just a few marks/wear on the veneer). The body work and indeed everything was pretty clean, except I thought there was some corrosion on the front member (surface flaked away, though underneath seemed pretty solid), and there was some bubbling un the paintwork around the LPG filler.

The LPG system has just been serviced, and is working well (though apparently the gauges tend to be unreliable?).

Lifting roof – the tent was in excellent (like, as new) condition. Everything else was perhaps as you might expect a 21 year old vehicle to be. Not mint, but not half bad.

Under the bonnet seemed clean enough to eat dinner off.

Does this price strike folks as fair-ish? Am I better served by waiting? Is LPG rare enough to make it unlikely to find better? Is £7k a bit rich, or generally fair? How much of a problem is the front member corrosion? Would the corrosion around the LPG filler be expensive to sort..?

Any thoughts or advice would be very gratefully received, but I suspect I need to make my mind up soon-ish, and that’s not a particularly helpful or pleasant position to be in, but it is a decision I want to get right, if you see what I mean…

Thanks in advance!
teenmal
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by teenmal » Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:58 am

£7000 is ok if the vehicle is in mint condition with NO rust, check the MOT history using the GOV website, personally I cant see a Dealer offering £7000 for this vehicle.

Take care
ade33
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by ade33 » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:56 am

Difficult to judge if you've only seen the one. From your description it doesn't sound too bad, they're all getting on a bit now, so expect to spend money on whichever van you end up with. At this age, they will all need 'looking after', but it seems there are still lots of really nice vans about.

For comparison, we bought a 2001 AFT V6 with lpg and a rear conversion two years ago. Paid £8500 and another £2000 since on cooling system, engine and lpg system repairs / maintenance.

For us, it's not been worth the money, as we haven't got the use from the van that we imagined. My Mrs loves it, and I don't trust it.

YMMV, of course. Happy hunting!

edit - if you are a FaceBark victim, get on the facebook page 'Mazda Bongo Owners Club' - lots of friendly helpful owners and inspirational pictures of Bongos in lovely places!
Roy748
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by Roy748 » Fri Jun 08, 2018 3:20 pm

Having spend several months searching the ads for a bongo for my nephew (I already own one), I would say £7k for a 97 is a little expensive. You could find a good 2.5 diesel for considerably less of that year. The v6 has a strong engine but can be a little more fragile than the 2.5 diesel and 2.0 petrol.
I have also read on here that LPG conversions are not recommended as the valves can burn out. Although I have no knowledge of this just something I have read in the past. Worth researching though if you are going to be spending 7k.
Another factor is where you are buying from as down south they tend to be dearer than up north.
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by mikeonb4c » Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:49 pm

Lots of good points being made above. Golden rule is don't rush to buy (see many, learn all about them) but the vendor sounds like they're trying to reel you in. If he can get £7k from the dealer why is he bothered about selling it to you. :roll:
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by Bob » Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:56 pm

And bear in mind that finding a good base vehicle is far more important than a nice conversion.

If you're lucky you will find both but there's many a tatty Bongo been bought for top price because of a good looking camper fit.
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by Sapperdusty » Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:55 am

We just bought our first Bongo. 2002 2.5 petrol v6 with LPG. Little bit of rust around the rear wheel arches but not bad. It's the Aero version so looks nice. A pile of service history so seemed good. Spotted a few drops of oil on our drive so got it checked out while being serviced. Looking at a £1.5k engine rebuild as the cam seal has gone. Also the back brakes are goosed. Do your research and take a mechanic with you :-(
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sotal
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by sotal » Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:24 am

It seems a little bit pricey to me but could be fine if there is no rust.

Ours cost a bit more than that, but came with warranty which did cover a good few expensive bits. I didn't get figures but I reckon we had about £1500 worth of work done.

Ours isn't the lpg, ours is the 4x4 diesel. Ours is also newer being a facelift 1999. Ours also came with the aero kit fitted which I suspect had been added.

We've had ours for 3 years now and I'd say the biggest battle is keeping any signs of rust at bay.

We've used ours loads as both a camper and as a day van. I'm hoping to keep ours for about another 2 years.
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by mikeonb4c » Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:52 pm

Sapperdusty wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:55 am We just bought our first Bongo. 2002 2.5 petrol v6 with LPG. Little bit of rust around the rear wheel arches but not bad. It's the Aero version so looks nice. A pile of service history so seemed good. Spotted a few drops of oil on our drive so got it checked out while being serviced. Looking at a £1.5k engine rebuild as the cam seal has gone. Also the back brakes are goosed. Do your research and take a mechanic with you :-(
V6 cam seals are a known (expensive) issue to watch out for (so a good point to raise) but i didn't think it would cost quite that much to fix. Have you shopped around for quotes (esp from Bongo v6 savvy garages?)
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by Sapperdusty » Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:33 am

It's been leaking a while so the cam belt and kit will be needed also found a couple of small water leaks. In that £1.5k is a full service and rear brake pads (one of the brakes needs a new guide pin and camper seized)
Should have taken a mechanic with me. On a plus note it's only done 90k miles and is structurally sound.
Just got to use her a lot now :-)
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by mikeonb4c » Sun Jun 10, 2018 10:47 am

Sapperdusty wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:33 am It's been leaking a while so the cam belt and kit will be needed also found a couple of small water leaks. In that £1.5k is a full service and rear brake pads (one of the brakes needs a new guide pin and camper seized)
Should have taken a mechanic with me. On a plus note it's only done 90k miles and is structurally sound.
Just got to use her a lot now :-)
Out of interest is the garage a Bongo specialist (job will probably cost less in labour if they are practised at this job). Brake pads are v quick to change and most of the service will happen naturally as part of the main job so their value shouldnt be over-played. BUT most modern cars can easily throw a big bill (and it is a big job they are doing) and once sorted the Bongo should give a lot more usefulness and pleasure than most cars. If its an otherwise good and rust free example you should be pleased once its done, provided its done well. Can't remember (but maybe Teenmal and others could comment) but is this perhaps a good time to renew stuff like water pump, crankshaft sensor etc. Good luck, keep us posted.
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by Markas » Sun Jun 10, 2018 3:42 pm

Probably another bit of advice for the OP would be to have a contingency fund of, say, 1-2k to cover any initial problems which reveal themselves. When I got mine last year I was aware of an issue with the temperature gauge before I bought it as the temperature would only start to rise when the van was stood ticking over for a while, also a noisy hydraulic tappet.
First thing I did was put the van into a specialist to give it a once-over and do a cambelt change. He immediately diagnosed nothing worse than a stuck thermostat so replaced the 'stat and changed the coolant to UK-spec OAT, and changed the oil for a thinner viscosity to get some oil up inside the tappet. He also replaced the steering rack as it was starting to weep and flexi section of the exhaust. All in, the bill was just under 1k but gave me some added peace of mind so priceless!
Mark
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ade33
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Re: Advice sought on my first Bongo

Post by ade33 » Sun Jun 10, 2018 10:39 pm

Sapperdusty wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:55 am We just bought our first Bongo. 2002 2.5 petrol v6 with LPG. Little bit of rust around the rear wheel arches but not bad. It's the Aero version so looks nice. A pile of service history so seemed good. Spotted a few drops of oil on our drive so got it checked out while being serviced. Looking at a £1.5k engine rebuild as the cam seal has gone. Also the back brakes are goosed. Do your research and take a mechanic with you :-(
I could have written that. Our van is 2001, V6 Aero with lpg.

£1200 was our bill for the engine work; crank and cam seals, water pump and cambelt. It had been pouring enough oil out that it was running along the sump and dribbling off onto the exhaust at the back, creating enough of an oil cloud that even the recovery fella wouldn’t drive it! Not a good week, that one.

It’s usually recommended to have either an inspection or at least a once-over by a knowledgable mate when buying used cars; with a Bongo it should be mandatory.
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